The embodiments described herein relate generally to facsimile machines, also known as fax machines or multifunction machines and more particularly to a system and method of processing incoming and outgoing faxes.
Faxing information has proven to be a simple and useful way of sending the information across long distances. As a result, a large number of faxes are sent and received daily. An Internet facsimile (I-Fax) apparatus is a facsimile apparatus provided with functions of converting image data to a file and transmitting/receiving it over a computer network, a typical example of which is the Internet. The Internet facsimile apparatus is capable of carrying out usual facsimile communications over a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and therefore it also can function as apparatus connected between a computer network and PSTN.
In comparison to transmitting an original message formed of, for example, an image and/or one or more accompanying files, to a facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN, Internet facsimile transmission over a network using the Internet facsimile by E-Mail can reduce communication costs compared to transmitting data only over the PSTN.
However, not all fax jobs are the same. One may be from an important customer requesting deliver of spares, another can be a junk fax, and other faxes can be addressed to specific mailboxes stored on the fax machine. Some of the incoming faxes can be from recognized numbers while other faxes may be from strangers. It is desirable therefore to enable a user to have more control over how incoming and outgoing faxes are handled.